1. Field
Electrically conductive thin films and an electronic device including the same are disclosed.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical electronic device such as a flat panel display, for example, LCD or LED, a touch screen panel, a solar cell, a transparent transistor, and the like includes an electrically conductive thin film or a transparent electrically conductive thin film. A material for an electrically conductive thin film may be desired to have, for example, high light transmittance of greater than or equal to about 80% and low specific resistance of less than or equal to about 100 microohm-centimeters (μΩ*cm) in a visible light region. The currently-used material for an electrically conductive thin film includes an oxide material or a conductive polymer material. The oxide material may be indium tin oxide (ITO), tin oxide (SnO2), zinc oxide (ZnO), and the like. The ITO as a transparent electrode material has poor flexibility and inevitably higher costs to produce due to limited availability of indium. Therefore, development of an alternative material is urgently needed. The tin oxide and the zinc oxide show low conductivity and have poor flexibility.
A polymer-based electrode material may be, for example PEDOT:PSS (poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)poly(styrene sulfonate)). Although the polymer-based electrode material has excellent flexibility, it shows low conductivity and poor stability.
In order to develop a flexible electronic device (such as bendable or foldable electronic device) suitable for use as the next generation electronic device, it is desired to develop a material for a flexible and stable transparent electrode having high transparency and excellent electrical conductivity.